Fergana Region

Uzbekistan’s Forced Labor System of Cotton Production

Every year, the Uzbek government forcibly mobilizes over a million citizens to grow and harvest cotton. Farmers are forced to grow cotton and deliver production quotas under threats of penalty, including the loss of the lease to farm the land, criminal charges and fines. Over a million citizens are forced to pick cotton and deliver harvest quotas under threat of penalty, including expulsion from school, job loss, and loss of social security benefits…

A court in Uzbekistan agreed on Wednesday to investigate the alleged torture of a suspect by state security agents, in a case that rights campaigners describe as a test of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev...